SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — After being favourites to land the daCosta Cup last season before missing out to Rusea’s High in the final, Clarendon College Head Coach Lenworth Hyde is guarded against overconfidence this time around.

Former champions Clarendon appear set to book a semi-final place in the ISSA/Wata daCosta Cup, after spanking major rivals Manchester High 4-0 in quarter-final-round action at St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex on Saturday.

Clarendon, who previously hoisted the daCosta Cup football title in 2014, have maximum six points from two games after previously dispatching Old Harbour High 5-0. A win or draw against St James High in their remaining quarter-final outing tomorrow will confirm them as Group Two winners and secure their last-four spot, regardless of any other result.

But Hyde, keen to keep his players driven while showing respect for other title-contenders, is not getting carried away.

“If they [people] want to give us the ‘favourites’ [tag] they can give us, but it’s what you do on the day,” the Clarendon coach told the Jamaica Observer during a post-match interview.

“We want to keep these players grounded, keep them focused, and [make them] continue to work hard.

“Cornwall College looked good today; I [have not] seen Dinthill Technical since preseason, but we just have to focus on what we are doing. The preparation is going to be very crucial.”

Saturday evening, crafty midfielder Lamar Walker scored late in the first half and Roderick Granville scored early in the second half, as Clarendon’s superior ball possession and extensive probing eventually broke their opponents’ will. Late strikes from Nicque Daley and substitute Andre Nicholson added gloss to the scoreline.

Hyde, a former national player and schoolboy football standout, praised the way his team held it together in the face of stubborn play from the Andrew Edwards-coached Manchester, particularly early in the game.

“We have a spirited unit right here; there’s a lot of love in the team and I think they are showing it out there. The discipline was great.

“We expected a tough game from them because they have a good coach and they see how we play. Coaches [are] going to come and set their system to nullify ours, and I think they did that well for about 30 minutes.

“They were defending well, they were marking closely but we just had to show more patience, and I think we did that for the most part. We kept the ball and we wore them down in the second half. I think they were a bit winded because we were passing the ball, and that’s how we got behind them and scored some goals,” he explained.

Hyde noted his desire to sharpen the defensive work from his players, while crediting goalkeeper Tafari Chambers for his efforts on the day.

“I didn’t think [players in] the defensive unit were covering each other. We had to be shouting from the sideline, and that’s something we have to fix. It’s good to see we have a good goalkeeper; he kept us in the game. But once we start going forward we will be creating chances and we’ll be scoring goals, but my focus is to keep a clean sheet every time,” he concluded.